Engineering yeast peroxisome assembly enables the increased production of acetyl-CoA and its derived 5-deoxyflavonoids

Acetyl-CoA serves as a foundational precursor and energy source for various biosynthesis pathways. The insufficient supply of acetyl-CoA in cytosol is usually a bottleneck for exogenous chemical synthesis in engineered microbes such as yeast. Exportation of acetyl-CoA from peroxisome, an exclusive organelle for fatty acids β-oxidation, may be an effective way to solve this problem. In this study, we develop a peroxin (PEX) engineering strategy to modulate peroxisome assembly in S. cerevisiae. Then, robust peroxisomes are constructed with improved acetyl-CoA supply by up to 98%, which further leads to the increased liquiritigenin titer (1102.4 mg/L). We also demonstrate that the PEX–mediated peroxisome engineering strategy can be extended across yeast species. Hybrid peroxisomes with tailored function are constructed in S. cerevisiae by transplanting selected PEXs from Y. lipolytica. Our study provides mechanistic insights into the “PEXs–peroxisome assembly–acetyl-CoA synthesis” relationship. Acetyl-CoA is a precursor for various biosynthesis pathways, but its limited supply is often a bottleneck for chemical synthesis in yeast. Here the authors develop a peroxin engineering strategy to enhanced acetyl-CoA supply which is transferable across multiple products and yeast species.